There are many views on witchcraft– historically, religiously or fictionally. But what about an aspect that some may, or may not, see as critical—the reality of it all?
The history of witchcraft dates back to the 17th century, colonial New England. History professor at Keene State College, John Lund, said that in the 1600s, witchery was the explanation as to why terrible things happened.
“The death of a child, crops failing, someone’s cattle died,” he said, “early England and New England [colonies] cried witch.”
According to “The Devil in the Shape of a Woman” by Carol F. Karlsen, “The New England witch was a human being with superhuman powers […] She was frequently suspected of causing illnesses or death, particularly to spouses or infants and young children.”
While history may document witches as people who caused harm to others, junior at KSC Kaitlyn Coogan said that, as a Wiccan, it is not in her best interest to cast harm upon others.
April Ruback / Equinox Staff
“Casting a spell over another person without them knowing interrupts their free will,” she said. “Whatever you send out comes back to thee times three, like karma.”
Instead, Coogan said she practices spells such as “the spell for self blessing,” or “for the essence of well-being.”
Coogan explained her religion as a Wiccan and said, “[We] acknowledge the existence of other Gods but only worship two main Gods; the God being the sun and the Goddess is the moon, showing the duality of powers.”
When it comes to performing spells, each spell calls for specific materials, process and time frame.
Coogan said there are “waning and waxing” periods of time. Waning means the moon is getting smaller while waxing is the new moon growing into the full moon.
Therefore, “a waxing moon is building up to something, something you want to grow and expand,” she said.
“Waning is when you want to get rid of something,” Coogan continued.
For example, she said that every year before school starts, she performs a spell for stress relief. Different spells call for different materials as well. One example is the spell for the “essence of well-being,” which calls for lavender oil, vanilla oil, frankincense and candles.
While the Wiccan religion praises the sun and the moon, Coogan said Halloween is a very important holiday for them. However, she said that the holiday is called “Samhain,” which is “when the veil between their world and our world is the thinnest.”
“Their world” refers to the spiritual world. Kevin Sartoris, owner of Muse Gifts & Books in Marlborough, practices the Gardnerian version of “Wicca,” as he called it.
Sartoris said this branch also praises the God (sun) and Goddness (moon), but also focuses on eight Sabbaths throughout the year-the most important, also being Samhain.
Similar to Coogan, “It represents the end of the light half of the year and the beginning of the dark half of the year. As such, it is believed that the veil that separates the world between the living and the dead was at the thinnest of this time,” Sartoris said.
Both Sartoris and Coogan mentioned that such practice may include leaving an empty space at the dinner table in honor and remembrance of lost family members or loved ones.
Leaving candles in the window to “guide the wandering spirits home,” is also an aspect of celebrating Samhain, according to Sartoris.
While the olden times depict witches as evil wrong-doers, Coogan stated that she does not believe in evil at all, actually.
Professor Lund said that in constant-evolving cultures, like current modern-day cultures, each generation is going to use stories of witchcraft, usually for entertainment purposes.
Last Wednesday, October 9, was the premiere of the third season of “American Horror Story.” With separate themes each season, this time around, the FX hit series is titled “Coven.” Coogan said that a coven is “basically a group of people of your same faith, kind of like a Bible study group.”
As Lund stated, the 21st century seems to be fully utilizing the “shock value” of various ideas of witchcraft, both historically and currently for the use of entertainment. “American Horror Story: Coven” seems to utilize both historical and fictional aspects of Wiccans.
These days, Coogan said that the word ‘witch’ is a term just like ‘Christian’ is a term. For her, she said it is simply a label of her religion.
“Religion is very vast and large,” she said, “it’s like trying to describe the Bible in one sitting, you just can’t do it.”
To clear the air between her practice and tales of witchery, Coogan said her beliefs are nature-based and incur little to no relation to the witches that were burned at the stake in colonial times.
“I kind of laugh when all witches are portrayed as evil. The broomsticks are funny, too. If I could ride one that would make things so much easier,” she said with a chuckle.
She said that the basis is of the God and Goddess as well as “the five elements and the four corners.”
The five elements include earth, water, wind, fire and spirit and the four corners are North, East, South and West.
In the series premiere of “American Horror Story: Coven,” the show may have initiated from history of witches, however it seemed to sensationalize quite a bit, depicting ‘modern-day’ witches as they were in the 1600s.
One witch painted blood on her face and was resurrected from the 17th century. Another witch was burned at the stake (set in 2013) for resurrecting an innocent bird she had found on the ground.
Over 400 years ago, “being in league with the devil” was a capital crime, then evidently leading to capital punishment at which those suspected or admitting to ‘dancing with the devil’ would be burned or hanged at the stake. “Every generation is going to put a different spin on it [witchcraft],” Lund said.
“In the sixteen-hundreds, saying ‘I’m a witch’ coincided with being in league with the devil. Now, saying ‘I’m a witch,’ is simply stating your religion with no fear [of consequence].”
Sartoris said that as “Wiccas” approach the Samhain, October 19 brings “the largest gathering of witches and Pagans in New England” to the ‘Celebrate Samhain Festival’ in Peterborough.
He also added that this event regularly brings in over 1,000 people and has the biggest Pagan authors and presenters in attendance.
The festival is to “give back to the Samhain and the celebration of ancestors and the final harvest.”
In order to fulfill these celebrations of the final harvest, the festival collects non-perishable food for the less fortunate.
Comparing “American Horror Story: Coven” to current Wiccan practices may seem drastic. However, regardless of the discrepancy between the two, according to variety.com, the season premiere raked in over five million viewers.
The historical distinction between witchcraft and modern day Wiccan practices, just as any religion, seems to lie in the hands of the interpreter.
Rebecca Farr can be contacted at rfarr@keene-equinox.com
